Arizona safety Dalton Johnson's patience, 'all-in' mindset have paid off for expected starter

National Signing Day for Dalton Johnson was unlike most for recruits.

The Arizona Wildcats safety inked his national letter of intent just four days after Kevin Sumlin and the coaching staff that recruited him to the UA were fired in December 2020.

Without a new coach in place to take over the program, Johnson blindly signed with the Wildcats’ 16-player 2021 class in the early signing period. Now the Katy, Texas, native is one of five Sumlin-era players from that group remaining on Arizona’s roster, along with running back Stevie Rocker, defensive tackle Evan Branch-Haynes, offensive lineman JT Hand and linebacker Matthew Weerts.

Of the 15 transfers the Wildcats landed in 2021, after Jedd Fisch was hired in late December 2020, only three are on Arizona’s spring roster: safety Gunner Maldonado, cornerback Isaiah Rutherford and defensive end Jason Harris.

“We sometimes like to count, because it’s kind of crazy to look at,” Johnson said.

As expected, Johnson had trepidation about all the changes.

“I was a little nervous at first, because it’s never a good thing to come into, but I didn’t doubt that Coach Fisch was going to be a great coach, and I saw the coaches he was bringing in, Coach (Chuck) Cecil, (former defensive coordinator) Don Brown, and you could see what he was building,” Johnson said. “I was committed to Arizona. Once I commit to something, I’m all in.”

After Arizona’s 1-11 season in ‘21, the Wildcats had a massive influx of talent, especially on offense. Then Arizona went 5-7 in Year 2 under Fisch, and more new players were added to the roster, resulting in more players leaving the program as well. Sumlin-recruited players are now an endangered species on Arizona’s roster.

“Coach Fisch and that coaching staff wasn’t the coaching staff that recruited us originally, but it goes two ways: You could go to the transfer portal or you can buy in,” Johnson said. “Obviously a lot of guys decided to go into the transfer portal and not buy in. That just wasn’t what I was going to do. I was dedicated to what Coach Fisch was saying, and I believed him from the jump. It’s turned out great for me. … Coach Fisch is great at getting guys to listen to what he’s saying and buy in.

“Him personally, you could have a conversation with him, and it’s supposed to be a five-minute conversation, but it could turn into an hour. He’s easy to talk to. … He’s been in the NFL and been around some great guys, so why wouldn’t you want that to be your head coach?”

Johnson seldom played his freshman season but contributed last season on special teams and blocked a punt in the second quarter of Arizona’s season-opening win over San Diego State to christen Snapdragon Stadium. He finished the season with nine tackles.

Johnson spent last season understudying fellow Texas product and strong safety Christian Young, who is preparing for the NFL draft. Young originally signed to play for the Rich Rodriguez staff at the UA. Then Rodriguez was fired and replaced with Sumlin. If there was anyone who could provide sound advice about adversity in college football, it was Young.

“When I came here, I kinda looked up to him as a big brother,” Johnson said. “Being behind him, it really showed me the steps and what it took.”

Since Arizona started spring ball two weeks ago, Johnson has shared the secondary with free safety Isaiah Taylor, the son of Hall of Fame linebacker Jason Taylor, who was also a part of the Wildcats’ ‘21 class but signed after Fisch was hired. Taylor, who grabbed two interceptions in practice on Thursday, made his stamp last season with a game-sealing interception in Arizona’s Territorial Cup win over Arizona State. Other safeties competing for starting snaps at safety include Maldonado, DJ Warnell and true freshman Genesis Smith.

“He’s a physical safety that’s going to run downhill and hit you in the face, and he doesn’t really care, that’s just how we are on the back end,” Taylor said of Johnson. “We’re making plays, and we really don’t care how you feel about it.”

The addition of longtime defensive coach and Dick Tomey’s former top assistant, Duane Akina, as a senior defensive analyst has bolstered the secondary’s progress this spring. Akina has preached versatility since returning to Arizona’s staff 23 years since Tomey was dismissed at the UA.

“Coach Akina is really stressing on the DBs being more than just a field corner or a boundary safety or a box safety,” Johnson said.

Slowly and steadily, “the defense is coming around,” he added.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

“We’re communicating a lot better, you see each other buying in, the connection on the field is a lot better than it was last year,” Johnson said. “Not knocking on last year, but we’re just growing in the way we should be.”

Singer: ‘huge difference’ between USC, UA receivers

When former Arizona wide receiver Dorian Singer was asked by a Los Angeles reporter on Thursday why he left the Wildcats for USC following a successful 2022 season, Singer said he wanted a “different opportunity for me.”

“That was the biggest thing for me; winning culture, stuff like that,” Singer said.

Singer was second in the Pac-12 last season in receiving yards with 1,105, plus six touchdowns.

Singer entered the transfer portal in the offseason and became one of three Wildcats to leave the UA for USC, joining defensive tackle Kyon Barrs and cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace.

“Coach (Lincoln) Riley’s building something special, and everybody around the country, obviously, they can see that,” Singer said. “The team was great last year, and then bringing in just a few missing pieces just to make your team better than where we were.”

When Singer was asked about the talent disparity at receiver between Arizona and USC, he said there’s “a huge difference from the place I came just seeing the competition level.”

“It’s like every day, you really have to compete because the man next to you is, if not better than you, he’s the same,” Singer said.

Since Singer’s departure, Cowing has taken over his role, and second-year slot receiver Kevin Green Jr., a former USC commit, is expected to fill Cowing’s position.

Extra points

Super Bowl winner and Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, whose son Brennan Carroll is the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, attended Arizona’s practice on Saturday, along with Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor; both of them spoke to the team. Fisch was a quarterbacks coach under Carroll for the Seahawks in 2010. Taylor, who coached with Fisch with the Los Angeles Rams, was the keynote speaker for the final day of Arizona’s “Be a P.R.O” coaches clinic.

Arizona worked on catching kickoffs on Saturday. Cowing, Taylor and running backs Michael Wiley, Jonah Coleman and Rayshon Luke were the participating returners.

Coleman broke two tackles and bursted for a 60-yard touchdown during Arizona’s team segment on Saturday.

During Arizona’s final team segment, the defensive starters were cornerback Charles Yates Jr., nickel back Treydan Stukes, Warnell and Maldonado at safety, Jacob Manu and Justin Flowe at linebacker, and Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei, UCLA transfer Tyler Manoa, Georgia transfer Bill Norton and Jeremy Mercier to round out the defensive line.

UA 2023 linebacker signees Leviticus Su’a and Chandler native Taye Brown attended Arizona’s practice on Saturday. Both Su’a and Brown are listed at 6-2 but appear to be the Wildcats’ tallest linebackers for 2023.

Former Arizona senior defensive analyst and Tucsonan Beyah Rasool was hired by Bowling Green to be the program’s cornerbacks coach and special teams assistant. The Rincon High School graduate left Arizona to take the Illinois State cornerbacks coach position before accepting a similar role two weeks later at Bowling Green.